Atlas bolted up the Western wall and into the trees. He climbed up to their tops in seconds and overlooked the forest from above. People were few, the patrols thin and eyes to the sky were few and far in between. And this was with an extra 100 people at least. He had essentially earned himself free rain in the tree tops over North and Eastern walls.

He released his hold over a branch and plummeted. He twisted, grabbing a branch and letting go, moving his body and slowing his fall in a lightning fast yet controlled descent. He dangled above a camp fire boiling a pot of slop for tired ‘soldiers’ to eat. The term used loosely on these pitiful men.

They talked of nothing, their minds too tired to produce thought, they smacked they dry lips, eyes locked, on the brown broth to finish its boil.

Atlas took this scene in and dropped into the soup a few drops of a little something that would have all these men off duty for a while. He asked for forgiveness in his mind and continued on, practically playing pranks on his enemies. He dropped sleep poisons, smokes and other such alchemical creations that would be invisible to the untrained eye. Or to one that wasn’t expecting it.

He was disturbing order at the lowest levels and putting lives at risk in the highest. As he went around the camp Atlas felt himself fall into a mind-scape of thoughtlessness, of emptiness. It was just himself, his breath, and his movements. It was when he reached their food stores, upon which he dropped a creation of the Ru Clan, it was when the rot spread with a foul smell and horrible intent over their warehouse of rations in but a few seconds, and when panicked screams and desperate pleas broke out through the area that Atlas was knocked back into the reality of his actions.

The shouts for the Spring Sage came immediately. Tens of peoples stood immobile, incapable, all they could think of doing was to call their master to save them. Overseers and officers came running, and then went running back without lifting a finger to alleviate the situation on their own. As the food stores grew more compromised by the second, as moss and rot and slime grew and ate at their supplies.

Atlas stood utterly devastated. Everything had been destroyed, simply because of idiotic inaction. He couldn’t bare to watch any longer, as some men or women collapsed to the ground in pleas to their God, to their Sage, their Light, tears and regrets and fears were let out. Yet all Atlas knew was that he stood above them, not their Dragon or some other god. Their curses, their anguish, they were his own to bear. A cold shock shot through his stomach. He dashed away, hidden in the trees he slicked away back to his Clan.

The moment the Spring Sage was notified he had understood what had happened. He shot out of his large tent, the open flaps behind him reveal a room of luxury, warm and safe from the brewing rain, with women either sleeping naked, or getting naked. “We are being sabotaged! We can’t let this down. Gather the men! Attack their Gates!” The Spring Sage shouted the order even as the towel he had wrapped around his fat belly, unwrapped and nearly revealed his manhood to the world.

His twelve overseers then, finally, spurred into action. Xerxes was quickly notified of this sudden mobilization. He stopped his axe swing into the trunk of a tree, still halfway trough its bark as wide as car. “Of course! This is a matter of dire importance. We can’t have them playing games with us when they are the ones supposed to be trapped!” Xerxes bellowed and bid the messenger fair well as the shouts and clamor of a charge broke through the routine silence of the forest.

“Should we charge in as well? Sir?”

“Of course not. Go out there, move in close, draw some archer fire, maybe get a punch on the gate and then laze about, talk to them for all I care.” Xerxes shrugged and continued with his savage attack on the one hundred meter tall tree.

“Isn’t that, not what you just said? Shouldn’t we support them, Sir?” The faceless knight asked.

“Young man… Do not be stupid. I know what I said. Now bugger off. You have your orders. ” Xerxes waved the Knight away, like the fly he was. Once he was alone he shook his head, chuckling to himself. “I am surrounded by fools~ Woe is me.” He whined with half a smile.

The assault came at the same time from North, West, and the East. The bulk coming from the east. Men in dirty clothing, with wooden shields raised above their heads and an assortment of weapons on hand they rushed forth. They were few and loosely organized. Atlas’ efforts had taken their tall and amongst those charging were men too old, untrained women, and soldiers so sleepy they could barely move.

They stormed the Eastern Gate, yet before they could hope to reach it, Ru Feng dropped from atop the wall. He slammed his steel gauntlets together, his shadow cast on the men which he towered over. Under a wooden shield a rusty sword came flying at him. With a Gauntlet he stopped the blow in its track, and with a torque of his hips with other hand flew from below and shattered the man’s jaws.

With a kick, he and those behind him were sent tumbling to the dirt and grass. Ru Feng shuffled forward, within the range of another. A devastating right hook cracked his temple. He grabbed onto his shield and yanked it out of his arm throwing it to the assailants behind him. Splinters flew through the air as the shield exploded on contact.

Cries of pain and anger warned of retaliation and Ru Feng skipped away from an attack aimed at his back. He bobbed under a roughly thrown fireman’s axe and pushed forward. In two strides that swallowed the distance, he entered the range of his next opponent and neutralized him in one swing. Every strike near lethal, whether it was luck or mercy, no one knew, but some survived while others didn’t. In but a minute Ru Feng had manhandled a dozen and more men, some moaned in pain on the ground, other lay in dead next to them, while most were unconscious from the pain.

Another dozen were standing at a distance, too afraid of the Lion that was Ru Feng to test him. They were untrained, poisoned, without food in their bellies, they were cold and tired. The sky had grown gray and black and thunders sounded in the distance. Mist left Ru Feng’s body and his muscles bulged through his clothes in all their monstrous might. He was writhed in shadow, yet his eyes burned like the sun in the night.

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Cheering from atop the walls buffeted the morale of the enemies even further. Any thought of attacking, of winning, had left their minds. They were worms looking up at God and they could do nothing.

Yet at this moment Ru Feng buckled. His gauntlets dug into the dirt, his kneed went further, sweat left him in buckets, turning dirt into mud around him. He pushed himself with trembling hands back to a standing position. He tried to turn around. He dug through the dirt and mud with his steel covered fingers, trying with all he could to removed himself from this sudden predicament. “Even now! I can’t even do such a little thing. What do I even have this monstrous body if I can’t even use it for my people!?” His eyes turned bloody, his veins pumping copious amounts of blood through his body as fever rampaged through him. He was integrating.

“Now’s our chance!” Came the rallying cry and the dozen common men charged Ru Feng. They were upon him in seconds even as he tried to back up. Axe and sword raised high, fear and anger twisting into killing intent. A sharp whistle stopped them in their tracks, the wind itself cried as Atlas flew through it. He landed with a solid crunch of dirt, from within him white Qi Flooded out, all men were sent flying back.

“Take Ru Feng away! He is integrating! I will handle the leftovers!” Atlas shouted and rushed forth. He twisted his body away from the blade of an opponent and a palm strike found his solar plexus with ease. All breath was pushed out of the man who collapsed to the ground his face a mess of heaving purple. Atlas rolled away from incoming attacks and jumped over the men struggling to reach him. He turned around in the air and took to the ground. A sweeping leg kick tossed sent them off the ground, and without balance, at the mercy of gravity. Atlas did not take the opportunity. He winced as he felt femurs crack under his assault. It had been too easy. He cast a look back atop the gate, where his father stood, silently judging.

He gritted his teeth and charged back in. He dove into the battle as if he was solving a puzzle. He limited his strength to the perfect degree required. He dodged when he could parry, and rebalanced himself when he could counter. He took his time dancing around his opponents, taking absolute care in how he dispatched them. They were like children trying to take down an adult. Every second was hell. Just one miscalculation and heads would fly.

His mind burnt itself up with calculations, of their strength, his own, their inexperience, their erratic desperation. Just one mistake would sent him tumbling down a path he did not want. He walked a tight rope with two exits and both were jagged and hard and cold. And the wind was blowing hard that day, in any and whichever direction.

It was an unknown amount of time later, for Atlas, that the he realized he had reached the wooden wall, of the Peach Dragon Faction. On his hand was the throat of the last man standing, the man dangled above the ground for a moment before Atlas let him drop. He jumped away as rocks and logs fell from above, and the he rushed back as makeshift arrows fell upon him from untrained archers, futile attempts that would never find their target.

He jumped back above the walls and landed on one knee next to his father. His eyes staring only at the man’s feet. Silence rained as the skies whirled and twisted above, now nothing but a dark coal black.

“You humiliate yourself, your title, and your heritage. You did as you liked, I won’t say what you did was wrong. Yet. Because you have clearly been successful. But, Atlas. I won’t let this charade go on much longer. When the Clan truly needs you, you will make the correct decision. You have been privileged, you have led an easy life. Where you gained this sterile morality I do not know. Neither your mother, not I had been so soft. Gather your courage Atlas. We are not playing games.” Archeseus chided.

“Yes, Father.” Atlas replied in one tone, his head bowed.

He received looks of pity from his friends and relatives as he left the scene soon after. He took it all in wordlessly. Rain finally broke through the clouds and fell upon the earth. The Fights all stopped at that point as the ground turned glossy and unstable. Thunder boomed above. It had been a crushing victory for the Clans. Near 50 dead, more than a hundred casualties. But they had gone further than that. They had set fire on the walls, broken and dismantled it, run in and destroyed their tents and their food and their clothes and their weapons. All the way until the storm had started, the Western and Northern sides of the Peach Dragon Faction would need immediate repairs and reinforcements. There was no rest for the wicked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was much later in the day, the storm above still raged, in the underground Gymnasium were Atlas found himself, this time with the company of another. Ru Feng had awoken from his sleep, his fever had subsided, his strength had returned, and much more.

The two sat in silence, yet nothing about the atmosphere in the dark underground was calm or silent. It was stormy and wild and filled with rage, as if the storm above ground was mere child’s play. Atlas warred with himself for many minutes, his face twisted into all sorts of shapes as he did.

“Fhew~ That’s enough.” Ru Feng spoke up, breaking Atlas out of his stupor. An angry looked flashed in his eyes. “We aren’t getting nowhere, both of us. Instead of wasting time we should get to some productive business, get our mind of things could help.” For the first time the muscle bound teen spoke with sense. Atlas nodded.

“Right… Well. To explain what has happened to your body is easy. You just work better, to put it simply. It’s not as if you have suddenly started cultivation. You do need a Cultivation Method for that, which the Ru Clan has. But it’s as if Qi is now allowed to float through your body while before it simply floated past it. Like before you could not come into contact with it, yet now it interacts with your being every second you exist. If you think back to the scriptures we have, it’s been stated many times that the area were a Cultivator trains and the Qi he uses interacts a lot with their personality as well. Like the Demon Rebel of Fire and Blood. Who was born near a Volcano and grew up in constant war.

“Oh. We called him Fire Tyrant Temu Jin. But I get what you mean. So… I’m not any stronger.”

“Not in raw benching power, but we both know that most of your power comes from a transference of energy. From your toes to your fist. That is what makes your punches instant killing moves. And now you have the fantastical energy we call Qi to use at your discretion on top of everything else.”

“So killing just got much easier… I can’t say I am incredibly happy about that. But If it helps me protect the United Clans, I’ll gladly take it. Though, I have no way to test it. You’re about the only person that I know of who can spar with me.” Ru Feng clenched his fists as he spoke, his eyes resolute.

“I wouldn’t say you can spar with me Feng. I’m way above your level.” Atlas stood up and cracked his neck, a toothy smile flashing under the white light of the massive man made cavern.

Ru Feng responded with a resounding laughter, a deep bellow coming from the gut as he cracked his wrists and hopped on his feet. A hungry smile on his lips hidden under his guard. “Come on then. Let’s put that to the test.” He taunted with his fingers.

Atlas disappeared from his spot, like a blur he crashed into Ru Feng, A flying knee heading straight for his chest.

{BOOM!} Ru Feng was sent sliding back. His feet leaving grooves on the red sparring clay, as his right arm stood open where the knee strike would have landed. Smoke seemingly coming off his palm from the strike. Ru Feng shook the numbness away as he spoke. "FUHEHE! This is gonna be fun!”.

Atlas simply lowered his knees back to the ground. He hopped once on his calves, before disappearing once more. An afterimage of smiling, pearly white teeth left floating in space.